So Much More
by New and Old
Summary: "It's just a small fire!" Hiro protested, trying to tug his jacket free from Tadashi's grip. "And it's going to take me another month to gather up enough materials to make another transmitter!" Hiro goes to get his transmitter despite Tadashi's efforts to stop him. Alive!Tadashi. [Set in Cosmic Intervention AU. Twin-fic to Picture Me Without You by songdreamer2016.]
1. Inferno

_*Disclaimer: All characters mentioned in this story belong to whoever owns Big Hero 6, be that Marvel or Disney._

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><p><strong>STOP.<strong>

For the maximum amount of feels, it is recommended that you read Chapter 1: Things We Lost to the Flames of the TWIN-FIC (**I Try to Picture Me Without You But I Can't - **Link's on my profile.) BEFORE reading this story's Chapter 1: Inferno.

Enjoy.

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><p><strong>So Much More<strong>

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><p><strong>Chapter 1: Inferno<strong>

(Posted 2014-12-27, Updated 2015-01-29)

{(SMM)}

Hiro couldn't believe it.

He had done it! He had gotten into San Fransokyo Institute of Technology!

Punching a fist into the air, Hiro shouted for the world to hear. "I did it!"

"You did," agreed Tadashi, grin as wide as his own. His older brother offered a fist. "Fist bump?"

Hiro immediately bumped fists, then made an exploding sound effect. "_K-pgrrwwww_!"

As Tadashi grinned proudly down at him, he couldn't help grin back, bouncing on his feet. Thanks to his older brother, he had safely finished his presentation.

He had been nervous in the beginning, especially after seeing the reaction of that one guy with the clipboard, but just when he felt like things couldn't be any worse, Tadashi had mouthed to him, 'breathe'.

…It was good advice given just in time; he had wanted to melt into the ground and disappear from shame. But after taking a deep breath, he had calmed down and finished the presentation as planned.

The best part? Everyone started paying attention and was subsequently amazed by his invention, and! Professor Callaghan had given him the acceptance letter _personally_!

He was interrupted in his thoughts when arms grabbed him and lifted him off his feet.

A voice gushed with affection. "Come here, you," It was Tadashi, and he was currently carrying him like… like he would a toddler!

"You complete and utter genius!" His older brother shouted proudly, swinging him around in a circle whilst hugging him tightly.

"Gah, gross! G-get off, you nerd!" Hiro began to squirm, his thoughts a jumble of 'totally making a scene' and 'darn I gotta get taller soon'.

Tadashi ignored his squirming, hugging Hiro even tighter. Rubbing against his younger brother's messy hair, Tadashi spoke into his ear: "I am," – cue tighter hug – "_so_ proud of you."

Hiro felt his cheeks burn in embarrassment, aware that they were attracting amused looks from bystanders.

He hissed, "You're so embarrassing!" then squeaked when Tadashi's hug became even tighter than before. "Can't. _Breathe_." _Arg, we eat the same things, so how is he so strong?_

When Tadashi showed no signs of loosening his grip, Hiro began jabbing his brother's side – his older brother was weak right under the arms and the ribs – a few seconds of jabbing later, he was free from the death grip, his older brother wincing in pain at a particularly sharp jab.

"Okay, okay. No hugs." Tadashi rubbed at his sore spots as he grimaced. "Your elbows are lethal."

Hiro took deep breaths of fresh air, mentally chanting _can't hit Tadashi, he's still a lot bigger_, grumbling out a semi-nonchalant 'whatever'.

He brushed away the hair in his eyes. He looked up to see Tadashi coming closer with a familiar look on his face.

Immediately pointing his index finger out in defense, Hiro warned him off with slight panic in his voice. "No more hugs!"

Tadashi smiled that infuriating big-brother-smile, and backed off, nodding sagely. "Sure."

He then proceeded to ruffle his hair roughly.

"Gah!" Hiro ducked, avoiding the hand. "_Tadashi_!"

When Tadashi just laughed, Hiro couldn't help but be frustrated, though he could see why Tadashi found it funny. "Stop laughing!" _Man, just you wait... I'm so gonna get you when least expect it..._

As if sensing Hiro's rising need for revenge, Tadashi raised his hands in a placating manner, his eyes crinkled up with mirth. "All right, all right, I'll stop." His smile grew softer, fonder. "But you were amazing. And I'm proud of you."

"Yeah, yeah." Hiro muttered. He shifted his feet, hoping that the light was dim enough to hide his burning cheeks. Though, from Tadashi's wide smile, it wasn't dim enough. "And stop that! It's embarrassing!" He pulled up the hood and zipped up the jacket up all the way, pulling it over his mouth to cover up part of his face. From the shadows of his hood, he glared at his aggravating older brother.

Tadashi chuckled, reaching over to pat his head. "Come on genius, let's go," A nudge when Hiro stubbornly remained still, arms crossed. "Aunt Cass and the others are waiting."

Hiro sighed, then mockingly answered his older brother. "_Okay_, Tadashi."

Tadashi mimicked Hiro's tone. "Good, _Hiro_."

From that point on the conversation digressed into playful insults as they started making their way to where their friends were waiting.

When they almost reached the entrance of the parking lot, Hiro couldn't help making a last poke at his brother in revenge for the teasing earlier, grumbling into the zipped up jacket. "Guess I'll be joining you at your _nerd school_."

His hood was jerked down abruptly, shocking Hiro into stopping, his eyes wide with disbelief. _He did _not_ just touch the_ _hood_. To retaliate, he knocked off Tadashi's cap from his head. Tadashi froze in surprise, and the two brothers had a brief staring contest.

All of a sudden, Tadashi's pokerface morphed into _that _smile; Hiro smiled an impish smile of his own in answer as he waved Tadashi's trademark hat in his hand like a trophy.

A few seconds later a game of keep-Tadashi's-hat-away was in full swing, Tadashi chasing Hiro around threateningly muttering, "Bear hug… Bear hug…"

Unfortunately for Hiro, compared to Tadashi's fit physique, he had no chance of outlasting his brother in stamina. All too soon, he was in his older brother's clutches once again.

"So... What did you call me, bonehead?" Tadashi growled playfully.

Hiro stuck out his tongue. Childish, but the only action he could currently take. "I called you a _nerd_!"

Tadashi hmmed noncommittally. "Oh yeah? Well, since _you'll _be attending the nerd school in a month," At the change in his older brother's tone, Hiro gulped in nervousness. _Uh-oh. I have a bad feeling that he's going to – not there! _Tadashi began tickling him mercilessly, singsonging, "You're _also _a nerd, _nerd_." Hiro yelped but couldn't help laughing.

"Gahahahaha!" Hiro tried choking out a calming breath, trying tolerate the ticklish feeling, but Tadashi's unrelenting fingers made it hard to concentrate on ignoring the ticklish – _Ah!_ "Okay, okay, I give!"

Tadashi paused in his tickling, but didn't let go. "What's Rule 96 of the Hamada Bros?"

Hiro gaped at his brother. "Seriously? You want me to sa – AHH!" Hiro tried to wriggle away as Tadashi resumed his tickling. "Aha, ah! Uh, un, _uncle_!" Finally, the tortuous tickling stopped.

The younger Hamada sagged into his older brother's arms, taking a moment to calm his breathing before commenting, "I feel like I'm gonna die."

Tadashi chuckled, then helped his brother stand. "You'll be fine." Hiro felt his older brother's big hands place the cap down low on his messy head, almost over his eyes. Hiro pouted as he fixed it into a better position, grumbling inwardly about the unfairness of his older brother's larger physique and longer reach.

When Hiro looked back up at his older brother, he saw that Tadashi had a fond smile on his face, looking off towards Aunt Cass and his friends.

At the sight of Tadashi's lab friends, Hiro's forgotten excitement for getting accepted to SFIT came rushing back. He began to skip as he and Tadashi started heading for Aunt Cass and the gang again, Tadashi walking sedately slightly behind him.

Hiro couldn't help the small chuckle of glee that escaped him as he happily bounced around Tadashi.

He was so excited for the coming school year, because– because–

Because he was going to go do awesome _robotics-_inventing in _college_ with his _brother_!

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><p>{(SMM)}<p>

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><p>They were passing the entrance to the parking lot when a shrill bell rang in the quiet night.<p>

Hiro glanced up at Tadashi to see him frowning at something in the distance. "What is it?" He took off the view-limiting cap and handed it back to his older brother, craning his neck to see what Tadashi saw.

His eyes widened when he saw the dark column of smoke rising from the exhibition hall. He glanced up at Tadashi to see him look very serious, all lightheartedness from before forgotten.

"Fire alarm," Tadashi answered absently, setting the hat back on his head. "Come on – and stay close."

Tadashi pushed Hiro ahead, hands on his shoulders to lead him in the right direction. There was a growing crowd near the steps, and soon Hiro was surrounded by people taller than him, blocking his view of what was going on.

_I seriously need to talk to Aunt Cass about buying more milk_, Hiro grumbled inwardly. _I'm surrounded by people who are inconsiderate of shorter people's feelings._

Tadashi tapped a shoulder of one of the people who was gathered around. "What's going on?" he asked, watching the smoke rise from a far corner of the roof of the building.

"A fire broke out," came the reply. "The fire department's been called."

Hiro was immediately interested. _A fire? No way, how cool is that? A real fire up close! Maybe I would get to see a real firefighter shooting the jets of water. I've always wanted to see how the truck pumped water..._

"And they better get here quickly," someone added. "There are _a lot _of flammable things in there."

"Yeah," Tadashi answered the woman distractedly, eyes still on the trail of smoke in the air.

_Wait, flammable things? The fire is in _there _where my microbots are?_

Hiro gasped, patting down on his pockets. _Oh no!_

Tadashi looked down at him. "What is it?"

"My neural-cranial transmitter!" Hiro answered, turning his pockets inside-out frantically, hoping that the transmitter would magically appear. "It's still in there!"_ It took _weeks _to solder the entire electromagnetic pathways and tons of expensive metals to make that transmitter! I __can't __let it get destroyed by fire, I _have_ to get it out!_

He took a step forward, but something snagged his jacket hood, jerking him back. Hiro looked back to find his brother frowning down at him, holding onto his hood firmly.

"Oh no, you don't," Tadashi said determinedly. "There's a fire. Hopefully it'll survive the flames, but if it doesn't, you'll just have to make another one. I'm not letting you go inside."

_But – but – !_ "It's just a small fire!" Hiro protested, trying to tug his jacket free from Tadashi's grip. "And it's going to take me another_ month_ to gather up enough materials to make another neural-cranial transmitter!"

Tadashi shook his head. "No is no, Hiro," he said firmly.

_Okay, didn't want to resort to this, but he's giving me no choice..._

Hiro used his ultimate wild card, cutely pouting at his brother, head tilted at just the right angle, eyes just wide enough and lips pursed just the right amount. Aunt Cass had never, ever said no to this calculated pout, and he had tried not to use the expression often, in order to leave a bigger impact when he _did_ use it. His brother was obviously not going to be able to resis –

Tadashi's face remained stern. "Even with the puppy eyes," He tacked on.

"Killjoy," Hiro muttered, slumping in his brother's grip. _Let go of the jacket, let go of the jacket... _Unfortunately, Tadashi knew him too well and didn't let go of his jacket.

Gosh, his brother was such a stick in the mud.

_I only need to go through the back door on the opposite side of where the fire was, grab the transmitter and I'd be back before anyone knew, but Tadashi just wouldn't let go of my_ –_ wait._ _Tadashi is only holding onto my _jacket_._

Quickly, before Tadashi thought to grab him by the arm, Hiro unzipped himself and slipped out, ducking between the small spaces in the crowd. He yelled to his brother who shouted in surprise and angrily called out his name, trying to follow with difficulty. "Sorry, bro! I'll be in and out, I promise!" He thought he heard Tadashi say something, but whatever the older Hamada said was lost in the hubbub of the crowd.

Hiro slipped between people and escaped the crowd in record time, then proceeded to run around the building for the small fire exit he remembered seeing near the stage where he had left his project.

When he opened the fire exit, Hiro was relieved to find that the room was fire-free, though there was a lot of smoke. He thought he saw a flicker of fire at the farthest corner of the large room, but it was hard to tell in the smoky room.

"Better hurry..." Hiro muttered, darting towards the stage where he had left the transmitter and microbots.

He found the neural-cranial transmitter easily and grabbed it quickly. When he looked back around to check around the place for the fire, he saw that the flicker from before had become bigger, and he saw the orange glow of fire. There were tiny flickering flames at one of the tables, blackening the plastic-y project as it burnt the poster behind it.

Hiro was turning away to leave when a mini-explosion caused him to look back at the plastic-y project in surprise.

_The project must have had something flammable inside, _he thought as he covered his mouth with his sleeve.

Now intent on getting out of the building, he hurried towards the exit when an idea came to him, stopping him in his tracks. He stared down at the transmitter in his hand.

_The microbots do everything I imagine them to... Are there enough microbots to extinguish the fire before it spreads any further?_

He stood a moment, looking back and forth from the transmitter and the flames. As he deliberated on his course of action, he didn't notice a figure slowly approaching him from behind, mostly hidden by the smoke.

Hiro jumped at the sudden crash when the burning table collapsed, spreading fire to something he remembered to be some kind of alternative energy source – _Okay, forget stopping the fire, I _really_ need to get out of here._

But before he could turn and run in the direction of the fire exit, someone grabbed him from behind and covered his nose and mouth with a cloth that smelled strongly of some sickly-sweet smell. Hiro yelled into the cloth in surprise and began struggling against the strong arms that held him captive.

_Wha_– _Wha__t's going on – wait, isn't this like...__? With... chloroform? Nowaywhowould _–

He desperately pulled at the arms that were holding him up in the air, trying loosen his assailant's hold to stop breathing in the stupid fumes that were choking him up –

– _When arms are disabled, Tsuyoshi-sensei said to _–

He kicked at the guy, trying to hit wherever he could, but the overpoweringly sweet fumes were clouding up his senses –

– _to... to... something... what was it_ –

He struggled, but his limbs were like wet noodles, slowly losing strength as he lost the battle of _not_ breathing in the chemical –

– _last... resort was... to..._

It was hard to breathe; the cloying smell was like trying to breathe underwater and the chemical scorched his throat as it passed through; he felt his fingers lose hold of the transmitter –

_...t..o... kick... the... groin..._

The fourteen-year-old dangled uselessly in his assailant's arms as if a puppet on cut strings. One foot gave a final twitch as it tried to follow the last command to kick, but it fell limp and felt as if heavy weights were attached –

_...no... can't..._

The preteen vaguely smelled a wave of smoky air instead of the chokingly sweet whatever-it-was as the cloth was removed from his face. As he was shifted into a fireman's carry, the smell of acrid smoke pulled Hiro back from the border of unconsciousness, but the chemical's effect on the rest of his body didn't allow him to struggle again. Soon, the smell of smoke was starting to overpower the smell of chemicals in his nose, but now instead of breathing water, it was like trying to breathe acid – the smoke stung the already-scorched airways something horrible –

_...need... wake..._

His eyes were only half-open, slowly closing. He fought to keep his heavy eyelids open, but breathing was getting even more painful and his eyes were stinging from the smoke –

_.__..no..._

His assailant threw something, and he thought he heard a crash of glass breaking followed by a _phump _of a fire growing larger. His arms and legs began swinging limply as he felt the man moving, carrying him away somewhere – he tried to keep his eyes open, but the smoke and the harsh orange glow everywhere _hurt_ to see –

As his eyes closed shut – just for a second, to rest it before opening it again – he thought he heard his brother's voice calling his name and tried to call back, but the only sound that came from his lips was a small, incoherent mumble. He thought he heard Tadashi's voice again, but the stupid chemical and the smoke was making him – so – tired –

_Tadashi... I'm... right... here..._

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><p><strong>AN** - Again, this is a TWIN-FIC to my beta's (songdreamer2016) story, **I'll Try to Picture Me Without You But I Can't **(Also referred to as **Picture Me Without You**). It is a _twin-fic_, so you should _definitely_ check hers out.

NOTE: We figured out how to bring about the most amount of **feels** by fiddling with both our story's chapter order, so for **max amount of feels**, it is recommended to read both our stories AT THE SAME TIME, each chapter by chapter.

Ever since watching the movie _Big Hero 6_ at the theatres together, we fell in love with Tadashi. By the time the movie ended, songdreamer and I were already discussing potential fanfics and Alive!Tadashi storylines as we waited in line in the restrooms. Seriously.

[(To those who haven't watched the movie yet, it is highly recommended, as it it tops Frozen for the amount of sibling-feels it generates. Currently, we have joined the ranks of Denial-of-Tadashi's-Death Army! It is a growing community, so join us if you haven't already! We have cookies!)]

As always, lots of cyber-love to all Viewers/Reviewers!


	2. Don't Leave Me Here Alone

**STOP!**

**STOP.**

**Stop.**

**Create two tabs on your browser.**

**Go to the link on my profile for **Picture Me Without You**.**

**Read Ch.2 of **Picture Me Without You** BEFORE this chapter for MAX FEELS.**

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><p><strong>Chapter 2: Don't Leave Me Here Alone<strong>

(Posted 2015-01-02, Updated 2015-01-30)

{(SMM)}

When Hiro woke, he didn't notice that the ceiling was not the familiar wooden beams of his room.

His mouth feeling dry, the preteen slowly sat up, eyes half open as the blanket pooled down around his waist.

He rubbed at his eyes sleepily, still feeling oddly tired. As he shifted, he smelt a whiff of smoke. He frowned down at his clothes – _funny, wouldn't Tadashi have changed him into pajamas_ – and blanket – _when did Aunt Cass change the sheets_ – then sniffed at the collar of his shirt to see if it was the source of the smoky scent.

The acrid smell of a sickening chemical caused him to flinch, immediately causing the pounding of his small headache to throb painfully. He felt himself sway and reached down the bed with an arm to steady himself.

That sudden whiff of the sickly-sweet chemical gave him a dizzying headache, but drove away what lethargy he had. When he put the two smells together, Hiro's eyes widened as he remembered –

His presentation at the showcase, the guy with the clipboard stepping away in disinterest, Tadashi mouthing 'breathe', the joy as he showed off his microbots –

The pride he felt at receiving the acceptance letter from Professor Callaghan, Tadashi's embarrassing show of affection –

The shock of not having his neural-cranial transmitter in his jacket, the shout of anger from Tadashi as he rushed away, the smoky exhibition hall –

Then someone lifting him off his feet from behind and holding him still, forcing him to breathe in the sickly-sweet chemical that fogged up his senses –

He was now completely awake, aware that he was in a... _situation_.

A kidnapping.

...Or not.

Because, why would he be kidnapped? It wasn't like Yama still wanted revenge for the bot-fighting thing, that was months ago!

But ever since that last adventure on the streets, he hadn't done anything wrong, staying on the straight and narrow, too busy developing the microbots. He didn't annoy anyone... as far as he knew.

Hiro's breathing quickened and his heart began to race as he glanced around the room, looking for something familiar in the room.

The unrecognizable room was reminiscent of a hospital room; all bare, dull-colored and _boring_.

Still, he searched for anything that would give him a clue why he was in this room and not the hospital – because _here_ was definitely not a hospital room, although it did have its similarities.

As for why, it was industrial gray instead of the hygienic white that most hospitals insisted on, for one. Also, there were no windows, a no-no for hospitals, just in case some patients were... well, claustrophobic.

Involuntarily, Hiro began listing away the inconsistencies that he could see, denying the piling evidence that he was taken away and _kidna_ –

Hiro quickly stopped the thought, because obviously, he was just placed in the wrong room in the hospital. There was no reason for anyone to take him. He continued to catalog the things in the room, moving slowly so not to antagonize his pounding head.

There was a gray desk with several thick books on it, a chair pulled up next to it. It was right by the bed that the preteen was currently lying on.

To the right of the desk came a... wall-sized board? Or something that looked like it. Hiro filed the detail away and skimmed over the blank wall next to that, almost missing the something round hidden by the shadows – _Aha._

Intending to make sure that he was in some weird gray hospital – because that was obviously where he was – Hiro quickly jumped off the bed, only to slip and fall onto the cold floor. His balance was all wonky and strange, as if gravity's pull had strengthened somehow.

A breathless chuckle escaped his mouth as something amusing and illogical came to him. _Heh, alien spaceship? Maybe this is outer space?_

With a jerk of his head, he brushed away the stray thought and winced at the sudden vertigo. An exasperated voice – it sounded annoyingly like his older brother – echoed in his head: _Really, Hiro?_ That's _the first thing you think of in this situation?_

Hiro got up off the floor slowly, steadying himself on the bed. He staggered towards the door, one hand clutching his head to fend off the nausea and the other hand supporting his weight. He painstakingly made his way to the door hoping this _kidnapping_ business was all a stupid mistake –

The doorknob turned easily, and Hiro's heart soared – he _had _simply been placed in a wrong room in the hospital – only to fall with disappointment when he found himself in a small bathroom with a toilet, sink and shower stall.

He tried to keep his rising panic in check, because he _didn't have claustrophobia, that was a stupid fear for little kids_ – the bathroom was _not_ further proof that he was in an isolated room, it was – it was –

Not finishing the train of thought, Hiro rushed out of the bathroom as quickly as he could, still leaning heavily on the wall. His breath came out in small gasps as he looked frantically around the gray colorless room. He ignored his hammering headache to follow the orders of his panic that was telling him to seek something or someone familiar _right now_, because he was somewhere unknown, _alone_, and maybe _kidnapped_ –

The preteen's second, much more alarmed sweep of the room did not reveal anything different from before. The same gray furniture and same _gray_ walls and the same _graygraygray_ all around.

The younger Hamada shook his head particularly hard in an attempt to clear the pounding in his head, only for his already-wobbly knees to give out and cause him to land in a heap on the ground.

Hiro's oncoming panic attack (he always knew when he found himself on the ground, panting as if he had run a marathon when he obviously _hadn't_) hindered his efforts to get up properly; he did his best to crawl to the nearest wall, pushing himself against it with difficulty until he was sitting up.

Ignoring the black dots that were appearing around the edges of his eyesight, he closed his eyes, forcing his breath through his nose. Laboriously pulling his knees into position, Hiro curled up, his head tucked in between his knees.

Automatically, he began going through the panic prevention tactics Tadashi had drilled into him when he was eight.

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><p>{(SMM)}<p>

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><p><em>"Close your eyes," Hiro opened an eye to peek at his older brother reading to him from a pamphlet, but a hand closed them shut again. "Think of somewhere quiet or familiar."<em>

Quiet and familiar? I don't _do_ quiet...

_Tadashi's calm voice came from somewhere in front of him. "Mentally, do something you normally do in that space." A moment of silence._

I don't go to quiet areas. C'mon... Those hydrogen ion sheets just came in today and it's totally just begging me to use them for batteries on Mochi's rocket boosters!

_"Got it?" Tadashi asked._

_"_No_," Hiro opened his eyes and pouted at his older brother who had a pamphlet titled 'Panic Attacks and How to Stop Them'. "Why do I have to do this again?"_

_"Because, bonehead, your panic attack yesterday almost got you hit by a_ car_." Tadashi reached over and closed his eyes with a hand again. Hiro grumbled something about 'overprotective mother hen', but made sure to be quiet enough that the teenager in front of him didn't hear._

_"Hmm... Okay then, for the quiet place, why don't you picture our room?" Hiro heard his brother scoot in closer. "And as for what you normally do in this space... Ah, tinkering with the Robot cat would do."_

_Hiro rolled his closed eyes._ I am almost 80 percent sure that he is antagonizing me on purpose. _"It's _Rocket_ cat. At least get the name right."_

_He felt his brother give him a slight tap on his forehead with the pamphlet. "_Concentrate_, kuncklehead."_

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><p>{(SMM)}<p>

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><p><em>"<em>Concentrate_, knucklehead."_

Hiro's shallow, almost-hyperventilating breaths slowly steadied, the memory of his brother calming down the worst of his panic as he went through the familiar steps.

_Close my eyes, breathe slowly through the nose... check..._

_Picture the room...__the carpet, desk and shelf full of different robots built from scratch, the window with the nice view of the San Fransokyo Bridge, the soft bed and blankets that Mochi sometimes sneaked into at night..._

_Mentally tinker with whatever project I am working on... That would be the microbots..._ Hiro flailed a moment when he couldn't remember exactly what he did with the microbots in his _room_ instead of the garage, but calmed down again when he centered himself with the thoughts of his older brother instead.

_Tadashi's work space that I sometimes invade and take over __– __The comforting faint smell of machinery oil from Tadashi's side of the room when he came in late at night from the SFIT lab __– __His warm bed and big comforting form I sometimes snuggle into when a thunderstorm becomes too loud to bear, reminding me of _that_ day –_

Hiro's heart and breathing gradually slowed down and evened out; before long, the preteen was carefully unfurling himself from his fetal position, though he was still slumped into the wall.

He paused before opening his eyes, squeezing them tightly together as he mentally hoped and wished with all his heart. _Please, _please_ let the stupid suffocating room be all a nightmare that I somehow hallucinated..._

_And it had to be a hallucination, because what idiot made a room with no... entrance...?_

With a figurative lightbulb over his head at that new thought, Hiro immediately began to search the room again much more meticulously, with a hopeful glint in his eyes.

The preteen's efforts were rewarded when he found another door, hidden from his previous viewpoint from the bed. He immediately stood, fighting the dizziness from rising too quickly. Leaning against the wall, he stumbled towards the door, fragile hope rising again – of course he couldn't possibly have been kidnapped, he must have mistaken someone's efforts in saving him from the fire as something malicious –

Perhaps he was having a horrid nightmare. Anytime now, he was going to wake up to find himself in a hospital room being treated for semi-serious smoke inhalation that caused hallucinating, because the hospital's obviously where Tadashi would have carted him off to right after –

But Hiro's small hope was shattered into nothing when he reached the door – it was locked.

The fourteen-year-old jiggled the doorknob desperately, clinging to the quick-fading shreds of hope that the door was just stuck and needed a little more force, that the door _would_ lead to a hospital where he was supposed to be, that he was having a nightmare, and that _this wasn't real _–

Hiro's breath sped up again without him noticing, too busy trying to get the door to _open_ – and the suppressed panic came back with a vengeance. When the preteen finally noticed the edges of black creeping up in his field of sight, Hiro tried to calm his breathing again, closing his eyes and using the techniques that Tadashi had shown him, but they _weren't _ – _working_ –

Frantically, the almost-teen started banging the door, yelling. "Hey –" He was cut off by his own hacking coughs when his dry, already-painful throat felt as if something poked sharply inside as he attempted to talk. For a few seconds, there was nothing but harsh coughing in the silence. The younger Hamada bent over double, leaning heavily on the door as he tried to take a breath in between his coughs.

When his hacking finally died down, Hiro panted as he tried to catch his breath. The preteen began banging a fist against the door again, making another attempt in yelling. "Anyone... out there? ...I think... the door is stuck... _Hello_?"

He had to stop every now and then, because he was trying not to cough and there was a burn in his throat and spasming in his lungs as his body threatened to go into a coughing fit again –

Pausing to take soothing breaths to prevent the next series of coughing from happening, Hiro was alarmed when his breathing became even shallower and faster than before and _wouldn't slow down _–

His thoughts were all a jumble as his fear of being lost, of _being left behind_,_ being isolated_ mixed in with the hysteria of not being able to breathe –

As coherent thought began to leave him, the preteen began to shout desperately, ignoring the wet rustiness he felt at the back of his throat as he pleaded and begged and _coughed_ –

"Anyone – out _ther-e_ – Any-_one _– HEL-_lo _–"

The fourteen-year-old was yelling as loud as he could, but his voice barely louder than a whisper. His voice cracked again at the last syllable, but Hiro continued pounding on the door, refusing to abandon the hope that someone would hear. He dry swallowed his coughs and the wetness that did nothing to soothe the dryness in his throat, disregarding the pain of using his hoarse voice. The preteen began to feel lightheaded from the lack of air – but who cared if he wasn't getting enough air if he wasn't _getting out_ –

His breath was coming fast, knees were wobbling, eyes were burning with tears and chest was feeling weighed-down – the slowing fist-drumming on the door quickened in tempo. _I'm beginning to hyperventilate – _

"Let me out. _Letmeout_!"

Silence was the only response when he paused to calm his coughing fit again.

Hiro desperately spoke at the locked door, voice soft and shaky as his tears threatened to fall. "...Please..."

But still, no acknowledgment came from the other side.

Dry sobs wracked the preteen's figure as he started to hit the door again, pleading _pleasepleasepleaseletmeout_ as he jiggled the door knob again. There was a faint ringing in his ears and the lubdub-lubdub of his heart was coming faster and louder –

Though he suddenly felt a strange hotness to the room, the preteen ignored it in favor of trying to keep pounding on the door through his harsh breathing and sobbing of _Tadashiwhereareyou _and _helpmeIneedtogetout_. But the banging was becoming weaker, and his already wobbly knees and legs finally gave out when a particularly hard knock of his fists twisted his body at an angle.

One of the preteen's hand caught the door knob as he fell, and he was left with one hand pulling himself upright on the knob and the other flat against the door for further support.

As he tried to pull himself up again, a strange, very sudden sense of happiness and euphoria filled him. _This is a joke! Someone must have thought this might be funny!_

Hiro began to laugh, though it was more like the harsh sound of a dying bagpipe than a laugh.

His shoulders shaking from the mirth that overtook him, and the preteen almost lost his grip on the door knob as he laughed as if he'd heard the funniest thing in the whole world.

The tears, which had been collecting itself long before his laughter, spilled freely over the preteen's cheeks, making jerky tear tracks on his cheek as his body twitched in time to his hysterical laughter and chokes of breath.

Hiro slid down further down the door; he was barely getting enough air, using it all to laugh. He took a deep breath, trying to calm his sudden and inexplicable amusement.

The preteen hoarsely whispered into the door, chuckling intermittently. "Very... funny, guys... that's... enough now... This really isn't... funny anymore... Now lemme out..."

He giggled hysterically when still no response came, his quaking shoulders slipping his fingers off from his grip of the door knob.

"Haha... Tadashi... remember the Hamada Bros Rule 17?" Hiro reached out and clutched the doorknob with both hands before he totally lost his hold, trying to turn the knob again as his body dangled, half-prostrate next to the door.

More silence.

Hiro still remembered the very first time they had set that rule, when he was six; any mention of the number 17 should have stopped the prank, if Tadashi was anywhere nearby...

* * *

><p>{(SMM)}<p>

* * *

><p><em>"Tadashi and Hiro Hamada, you two get here<em> right now!_"_

_The two brothers froze in the middle of their playful shoving at the sudden shout. They both turned, eyes huge with surprise to hear Aunt Cass_ shouting_. In all the several years they had lived with her, she had never raised her voice at them – became annoyed with them, yes, but never shouting._

_"I have told you again and again to please stay_ on the sidewalk_, but what do you do?" Her eyes looked suspiciously shiny as she went on. "You_ don't _stay on the sidewalk, making me _shout_ at you, which makes me feel_ guilty_, making me_ stressed_, and now I need to go stuff my face with... with..." She saw the donut shop nearby. "...Donuts!" She said in an upset voice, throwing her hands up in the air._

_She stalked into the store, then poked her head back out to them and yelled, still quite upset. "They. smell. really. good!" Her voice sounded teary, as if she would burst into tears any moment. "...Do you want some?"_

_When the two brothers stared back and slowly shook their heads, eyes still wide in surprise mixed with guilt, she sniffed, brushing a tear off her eye. "I'm not stress-eating, it's... it's... oh, who am I kidding? It's stress-eating." She went back into the store, grabbing a tray and beginning to stacking all the donuts she could see onto it._

_Tadashi and Hiro stood still in silence a while longer, watching the stack of donuts get higher on the tray through the shop's windowpanes._

_The older Hamada brother broke the silence, not taking his eyes off of Aunt Cass' furious stacking of sweet desserts. "...Hiro?"_

_Hiro, similarly shocked at Aunt Cass' outburst, didn't look away from the woman inside the store either. "...Yeah?"_

_"Let's add a rule... number 17. Stopping all pranks, rough-housing and teasing;_ everything_, no matter what."_

_Hiro looked up at his brother in confusion. "Huh?"_

_Tadashi glanced down at his younger brother then back into the donut shop, where Aunt Cass could be seen at the counter with more than a dozen donuts. "...I don't really want to make Aunt Cass cry like we did today."_

_Hiro nodded solemnly. "Okay... I understand... Rule 17... No pranks or teasing or anything...everything stops."_

_Tadashi agreed with a similar solemn nod. "Yeah... for Aunt Cass."_

* * *

><p>{(SMM)}<p>

* * *

><p>The silence in the room felt endless while Hiro waited for some sign that someone, <em>anyone<em> was going to open the door and _make everything stop_.

He stayed half-lying on the ground, waiting. The weight on his chest was getting even heavier –

The preteen's listless body become even more limp as he realized that his brother was _not there_ and that _no one was coming_. He gave a shaky sigh to calm himself, to find that his erratic breathing had slowed down from the rapid pace from before, somehow. And it was so difficult to remain hanging on the door... He was so, _so_ tired...

"Bro...?" Hiro whispered uncertainly as he felt his eyes growing heavy. Still, he stubbornly held onto the doorknob by his fingertips.

His heart was loud in his eardrums again, this time at a much slower rhythm; he even felt the steady pumping of his blood in his ears and fingers. Hiro's numb fingers on the door knob slipped further off, and soon his upper body fell to the floor.

_Huh, it didn't hurt... but the floor is cold... Not supposed to sleep on cold floors, 'cause Aunt Cass is gonna flip... 'Dashi made me... promise..._

On the floor, his eyes half-shut, the fourteen-year-old muttered, "'Dashi... you promised..."

His eyes closed, and he felt as if swallowed by darkness –

He did not know that a hand flipped his body right side up, seconds after his eyes closed.

* * *

><p>{(SMM)}<p>

* * *

><p>The locked door opened with a whirr, revealing a tall man holding an oxygen mask in his hands.<p>

He quickly entered the room and paused in front of Hiro's prone form, flipping the preteen over and placing the oxygen mask over the mouth and nose. He checked Hiro's pulse, then proceeded to pick him up to place him back on the bed.

Leaving the oxygen mask on the fourteen-year-old, the man began to turn to leave when he paused, turned back and tucked in the blankets around the unconscious form.

The man gave a quick glance around the room, gaze lingering on the books on the desk and the blank wall next to it. He turned away and stepped out of the room, closing the door behind him with a loud click. Barely a second later, the whirring of a lock turning in place was heard.

The boy in the bed gave a small sigh, oblivious to the world.

* * *

><p>{(SMM)}<p>

* * *

><p><strong>AN** - Hey, this chapter might be a little different than before, and I think I like this one better. (If you haven't read the previous version, don't worry, major events haven't changed – just the level of writing and flow of story.)

I know this chapter is a lot, _lot_ shorter than the chapter on the TWIN-FIC **Picture Me Without You **(3.7K to almost 8K), but that's cuz not much can happen here on my side of the story until the other story gets to a certain point of the Movie plot. Songdreamer2016's and my chapters may end up with very different lengths. (...And, I tend to write shorter chapters... ^^;;)

BTW, Hiro's panic attack is _not_ a common occurrence, and the circumstances will be revealed later.

Enjoy the chapter...? (Though, by the time poor Hiro fell unconscious, I felt like hitting myself for making him go through all that... without Tadashi, anyway...)

Anyway... Please leave a review to receive my cyber-love!


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